The Roman crane

In September 1995 the Roman crane was taken down and rebuilt at Augustusring, after it had lost its former place because of construction work.
The crane could carry a weight of up to 7000 kg. In order to be able to lift and lower that weight, two legionaries or slaves had to walk within the wheel. This power was increased by various rollers (the principle of a pulley). Each wheel had 13 spokes.
	In the year 70/71 AD it was used to build the walls of the Roman fortress. The crane needed a lot of space, though, as it had to be anchored in the ground with ropes in order not to shake with lifted load. Such cranes were of good use at major building sites and as stationary cranes in workshops. back to map